


Blowing Out Candles (Jack)

by skycloud86



Series: Blowing Out Candles [2]
Category: 24 (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:34:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28324662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skycloud86/pseuds/skycloud86
Summary: Jack's birthdays - the first, the one before D1 and the one after it
Series: Blowing Out Candles [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2198460





	1. 1966

**A/N - 21st December, also known as the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere (in most years), is Kiefer Sutherland's birthday. I wrote a similar fanfic some years ago for Sarah Clarke (Nina), so I thought I would make one for Jack Bauer too. Jack's mother is never named in the series as far as I know, so I named her after Shirley Douglas (Sutherland's mother) who sadly passed away earlier this year. Jack's birthday is the same as that of Sutherland's real life daughter.**

**Santa Monica Hospital - Friday, February 18th, 1966**

_A little blond-haired boy was waiting nervously in the busy corridor, his aunt sat next to him. In a room not too far from them, his mother Shirley Bauer was in labour, preparing to bring her second son into the world. Her doting husband, Phillip Bauer, was at her side with his hand holding hers tightly._

My parents never really told me much about my birth, or even my early days. Mom died young and father was never around, more interested in his business than in his sons. I know my birth happened in the morning, a chilly one and especially so for California, and I know that despite my parent's distance, they were delighted to have me.

_Phillip, a man who towered above most, held his newest child in his arms and smiled. Little Jack, with his fine, white blond hair, the newest part of his young family. He and Shirley had named both of their sons after family friends who were no longer with them. Still, he couldn't help but take his mind off of his son to focus on his work - he was certainly happy to have Jack, but BXJ Technologies was as much his child as his newborn son was. He looked forward to the day, some years off yet, when his two sons would work alongside him._

Although Phillip was my father, he never really seemed to be my dad. That role was filled by Sam, our butler, as much as he could, and whilst I appreciated and loved him for it, I never really got over how cold my biological father had been. Neither of us knew it at the time of my birth, of course, but I was always going to go my own way no matter what Phillip wanted.

_A big grin on his face, Graem rushed into the room to meet his new younger brother. He had wanted a sibling for so long and now here was Jack. He couldn't wait for the baby to be old enough to play with._

I remember Sam telling me how delighted Graem had been to have a brother, but at the same time I don't remember my brother ever really showing that as we grew up. It seemed the novelty wore away quick, and we only grew further and further apart. By the time we were adults, I guess it was inevitable that only he would come close to meeting the expectations of our father. That hurt a little at first, but soon enough I had a family to love and take care of. I made a promise to myself that no matter what, I would do anything I could to be a good father - no, a good dad - to my children, whether I had one or ten of them.


	2. 2002

**CTU Los Angeles - Monday, February 18th, 2002**

It was late in the afternoon and Jack was in his office. Looking down to the bullpen below, he could see Nina and Tony. Standing close together, they seemed to be whispering to each other. Up until a month ago, he and Nina had been together, much to the detriment of his marriage. Now he was trying to repair the cracks, and Nina seemed to be already over it and moving on, or at least she seemed to be. There always seemed to be hidden parts of her that were so well guarded that no matter what he did, he could never see.

_It had ended soon after the trip to Santa Barbara. Both knew that it was never going to last, and both knew that it was over. Jack knew that he had already caused a lot of damage to his marriage, and as much as he loved Nina, he knew that he could never really, truly be with her. Besides, he loved Teri more, even if he wasn't doing much to prove it._

Soon he would be leaving CTU for the day, although for the first time in a while, he would be going home to his family rather than a cheap apartment a block away. He and Teri had been working on their relationship, but tonight, for his birthday, he just wanted to spend some time with his family without CTU, without Nina, without any problems. He wanted to feel like a husband and father once again.

_On his last birthday, he and Teri had been on much better terms. His work had still gotten in the way, but him and Nina was not yet another knife in the back of his marriage. He had taken the Thursday and Friday off, so that he and Teri could go on a short trip together. Worries that CTU would somehow find a way of ruining it were unfounded, and they had a wonderful, relaxing break._

Jack looked at the front of their house as he climbed out of his car. He had not been there very often since late last year, but now he was returning home, hopefully for good. As he entered, Teri greeted him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She told him that Kim had gone out for the night, much to his disappointment, but at least it meant that he could spend some time alone with Teri.

_The last time they had been alone was probably back in early January. They had arranged to meet at a cafe half-way between their respective work places for lunch. It had been their attempt to just talk to each other, not necessarily to try and fix things or work them out, but to simply find out what the other had been up to and how they were. The experience had been awkward, and the silences long and unpleasant, but both of them left thinking at least some progress had been made. After all, the lunch ended peacefully and calmly, instead of being brought to an early end by a loud argument._

The evening had gone well, they had even managed to kiss albeit after quite a few drinks. It had been just Jack and Teri, even the awkward silences had given them a break. Close to midnight, both of them decided that Jack didn't need to sleep in the guest room any more. They kissed as Jack closed the bedroom door, and thus began the next stage of healing for their family.


	3. Chapter 3

**Jack Bauer's apartment - Tuesday, February 18th, 2003**

The place was a mess. Beer bottles and takeaway boxes could be found on every surface including the floor, and the smell was so overpowering that it was a miracle that Jack could even breathe. Tony had been around every so often, trying to get him to clean up or often doing it himself, but Jack just wanted to be alone and to do as little as possible. That was easy enough when it came to Kim, who had barely seen him since her mother was murdered - she was working as an au pair for a couple elsewhere in Los Angeles now, and whilst he had tried to see her a few times, she had always said she wasn't ready.

_He slept poorly most nights, but if he didn't have a dream of that day or that night, then he considered it a good night. The most common dream he had was of finding Teri, blood all over her and no sign of life, and no matter what he did, he could never wake her up. CTU had told him to take as much time off as he needed, but he had no plans to ever go back there. They had failed to protect his family, and that after everything he had done for them!_

Sighing, he took a swig from a beer bottle, finishing off the last of the now room temperature drink. He let the bottle just fall to the floor and laid back down on the sofa. The picture of Teri he often spent hours just gazing at was on the coffee table in front of him, her sparkling blue eyes and friendly smile now just memories that would eventually fade entirely from his mind as the years went on. He knew that today was his birthday, but he was in no mood to even acknowledge it. He would have given years of his own life at that point if it meant Teri could be brought back, even for just a day.

_The first months had been a blur, and he mostly just floated through them. First was the funeral, burying his wife next to her parents. Then came the trial, where the woman he had destroyed his marriage for, the killer of his wife, was sentenced to life without parole for her crimes. After that had been the CTU inquest into what the hell had happened that day. Finally, in what he thought was probably October or November, the events stopped. He didn't need to be reminded every day of what had happened, he could just stay at home and think only of Teri. It was just a shame that he couldn't get that one last memory out of his mind._

He could hear a car radio outside, the driver seemingly wanting to give the entire block a concert. The song was an old classic from the 1980s, one that Teri had loved, which brought tears to his eyes. It seemed almost as if the music was mocking him, and he tried to shut it out, to think of Teri and only Teri. He didn't need anyone or anything else, he just wanted his family to be back in one piece. No matter what he did, or said, or tried, the pieces were never going to go back together, and that devastated him.


End file.
